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Topic: excited about The Casino (Read 1792 times)

I heard over at Universal that Matt Dusk got a part in The Casino and his song will be used as the theme song for the show. I'm so excited. For those who have not heard his art, he sound like Frank Sinatra. Check him out at www.ufanz.com/teams/mattdusk. An amazing talent. :;>)

MARK BURNETT, the television producer behind many of the most successful reality series — or as he prefers to call them, unscripted shows — is now preparing for the June 8 debut of his latest series, "The Casino," on Fox. Set at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, the new show tracks the highs and lows of the gambling life. Between "Survivor: All-Stars" on CBS and "The Apprentice" on NBC, Mr. Burnett has had a triumphant year. But another of his shows, "The Restaurant," staggered off the air toward the end of its second season. Mr. Burnett mouthed off about winning and losing with Virginia Heffernan.

VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN "The Casino" is not a game show like "Survivor" and "The Apprentice." It's a serialized documentary, more like "The Restaurant," which got low ratings. Doesn't it seem risky to go back to that format?

MARK BURNETT Just so you know, I consider "The Restaurant" my best work ever.

HEFFERNAN Why do you say that?

BURNETT We told stories — it's 43 or 44 minutes of unscripted storytelling with no foundational blocks to build around. The sense of pride of that was infinitely bigger than the sense of pride with giant ratings.

HEFFERNAN But you must be going for ratings with "Casino."

BURNETT It's quite a risk. It's less likely to get "Survivor"-, "Apprentice"- or "Contender"-type ratings from a "Restaurant" or "Casino," because elimination and exclusion is a very, very core emotional hook. You can't get away from it, because you've been there. You've felt it. You've seen people feel it.

Now, "West Wing," "ER," "Ally McBeal" are serial, right? On those kind of stories, your scriptwriter can write dramatic incidents and exposition to tell you a story. Well, to try and make "The Restaurant" or "Casino" like that is really hard. Much harder than when I've got a tribal council and a boardroom to build around.

The reason I'm doing it, just so you know, though — the first person to find an unscripted drama without any elimination and finds great characters and goes five, six seasons and has no S.A.G. residuals, has no deficits, has just hit what's called a bonanza. I haven't hit on that yet.

HEFFERNAN "The Restaurant" seemed logistically cursed from the beginning. Did you lose sleep over it?

BURNETT Totally.

You know what? That's a lie. I sleep really well. I don't think like that.

I've actually been in a war. That's seriously losing sleep. And there are guys there who lose sleep every night. You know, Seal guys, Delta Force, Rangers, over in Afghanistan. I've been in serious mountains. You go to Afghanistan. It's really, really, really, really hard to carry that pack and ammunition hunting for the enemy. That's what you lose sleep over. If I was a commander, sending those guys out, I'd be losing sleep. I don't lose sleep over whether my show needs five extra edits or not.

HEFFERNAN O.K., but were you hurt when "The Restaurant" went off the air?

BURNETT Yes. Not — hurt. Not really. That's not a good emotion. But I felt bad for my crew. But I'm a grown-up. I can just move forward. "Casino" is another risk. I don't know if it'll work. But you know what? I'm trying to make interesting stories.

HEFFERNAN Your camera crews seem to have a sixth sense for the little dramas at the Golden Nugget. Do you train them?

BURNETT Do they go through major, major prep meetings and directing discussions and what sort of shots to get and all this kind of stuff? Yeah, totally. In the movies, I see you and I've got the camera on me, then we shoot your response to me, then we shoot a wide of the whole thing.

We don't have that luxury, because we can't stop anything. It's about the cameramen communicating with each other. That's the hardest thing. To communicate, and not get in each others' shots, while getting dramatic close-ups and semi-wides.

HEFFERNAN Do you like gambling?

BURNETT Not really. My kids want to play cards all the time. I can't stand it. But I compete with my kids every day, at everything. We bet who can kick the soccer ball through the hole, or who can throw the dart in the thing.